Montonati’s tremendous first year
Coming off a down year the Owasso Rams had a lot of questions surrounding their basketball program. Owasso was thought to be a team at best that could challenge for a top ten spot possibly even a state tournament bid entering the season. But most thought Owasso would be a middle of the road team in Class 6A with a first-year head coach, new players stepping new roles and the unknown if Josh Procter would play. First-year head coach Brian Montonati has done a great job of getting the max out of his players. The biggest reason for the Rams success this year? The team is completely bought in!
“We have a good group with a high-level chemistry,” said Montonati. “They are gym rats and extremely coachable.”
As with anyone in a new position, there is always a learning curve. Montonati has learned a lot in his first year as the head man for the Owasso Rams.
“Expect the unexpected,” said Montonati. “It’s still basketball and I’ve been around basketball my whole life but there are a lot of things out of your control when dealing with 16-18-year-old kids.”
Seth Pomeroy has done a great job at Point Guard for Owasso. The players around Pomeroy have thrived because of his want to make his teammates better. This year Pomeroy’s game has taken a huge step up. Another junior for Owasso that has stepped his game up is Hayden Peterson. Pomeroy and Peterson are a big time one-two punch for Owasso in the 2019 Class. Senior multi-sport Jake Thompson has had a tremendous year. He is completely bought into the team’s success.
Something that caught my attention when Montonati was speaking about the reasons he feels like they have been so successful this year is he made sure his players knew their roles going into the season. He set the expectations with each of his players early, which helped bring the team together. Montonati preaches team above self.
“We try to play unselfish,” said Montonati. “Our strength is our group it is not just one guy. It is the system. We run our offense is predicated on ball movement.”
Pomeroy can attest to the team having success by putting the team above their own self. He says Montonati has preached selflessness all season.
“He has taught us how to not be selfish,” said Pomeroy. “That sharing the ball always comes back in your favor. Coach Montonati says it is good karma when you share the ball.”
Josh Procter is a perfect example of the unselfish play of Owasso. He is a great athlete headed to play football at Ohio State next year. Procter would be a top 15 basketball prospect in Oklahoma if he dedicated himself solely to basketball. He is very talented with good size on the Wing. Procter could be a selfish guy that wants to lead the team in scoring in his final basketball season. However, Procter is the complete opposite. He just wants to win. When you watch Owasso play Procter takes the role of shutting down the best scorer on the opposing team. He doesn’t care if he scores 60 or 0 just if Owasso wins or not. Procter is a great example of why Owasso is having such great success.
Owasso heads into their opening playoff game on Friday night as they host a Regional game against Muskogee. Montonati has had a great regular season leading the Rams to 19 wins including a 3-1 record against the top 5 and 8-3 versus the top 20. In his first year, Montonati has Owasso rolling. The regular season for Owasso was a surprise to the state. Don’t be surprised when Owasso makes a run at the Class 6A state championship.
For more information email Matt@prephoops.com